Santa Bárbara Canton

Santa Bárbara is the name of the fourth canton in the province of Heredia in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 53.21 km²[1], and has a population of 31,152[2]. The capital city of the canton is also called Santa Bárbara.

The elongated canton begins midway between the cities of Alajuela and Heredia, where the Río Segundo marks its southern boundary. It climbs through foothills northward to the Río Desengaño high in the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range).

The canton of Santa Bárbara is subdivided into 6 distritos (districts).

  1. Santa Bárbara
  2. San Pedro
  3. San Juan
  4. Jesús
  5. Santo Domingo
  6. Purabá

Contents

History

The canton was established by a government resolution of October 3, 1855.

Geology

The Santa Bárbara cantón is constructed largely of volcanic rock from the Holocene Period of the Cenozoic Era.

Hydrology

The fluvial system of Santa Bárbara generally flows toward the Pacific Ocean via the Rio Grande de Tarcoles river basin.

Geomorphology

The Santa Bárbara cantón forms part of the larger Origen Volcánico geomorphic region, including the sub-units of Volcán Barva and the Central Valley's Relleno Volcánico.

References

  1. ^ Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), 2001.
  2. ^ Estimates of Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC), May 2003.